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NEW YORK, United States — Urban Outfitters Inc., a retailer known for selling quirky clothes and housewares, is making an offbeat acquisition of its own: an Italian restaurant chain.
The Philadelphia-based company has agreed to purchase the Vetri Family group of restaurants, including Pizzeria Vetri, according to a statement on Monday. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
The Vetri Family restaurant group was started by Marc Vetri, a chef trained in Italy, and business partner Jeff Benjamin. Urban Outfitters isn’t a stranger to food service — some of its bigger stores include cafes — but acquiring a restaurant chain is an unusual move for a large retailer. The idea is to use Urban Outfitters to help the restaurants expand while Vetri Family focuses on the food, Marc Vetri said in the statement.
“It’s a perfect match,” he said.
By Nick Turner; editor: Mark Schoifet.



